AT THE NET — Weir High’s Ella Kaufman attempts to hit past Linsly’s Emmerson Icard and Sophia Flanigan during Monday’s match on Ron “Fritz” Williams Court. - Andrew Grimm

WEIRTON — Weir High volleyball coach Fran Capaldi knows her team has the potential to win games if they can figure out how to battle through adversity on a consistent basis. .

The Red Riders got gradually stronger throughout Monday’s match against visiting Linsly, but fell in a sweep at the hands of the Cadets, 25-13, 25-20 and 26-24, as they continue the process of finding the mental toughness their coach wants to see. .

“We knew it was going to be tough coming in,” Capaldi said of facing a good Linsly team. “I just wanted our girls to play tough mentally. That’s been one of our weaknesses is when we’re facing adversity, when there’s a momentum shift, we don’t keep our heads in the game and aren’t able to face those situations head on.

“That is something that’s hard replicate in practice, we try to practice situations where the game is tight as much as we can, but it’s not the same in practice as it is against a high-caliber opponent in a match.”

In the last set, Weir (2-8-1), looking to stay alive, had rallied from a seven-point hole early to lead it late, 24-21 with three set points, but could not finish to stay alive as Linsly rallied with the last five-straight points to close things out.

“I feel like being able to close those will come with the mental toughness,” Capaldi said. “We do have a young team, we have a group of seniors that are taking on a new leadership role this year. We had the same core group for three years, so it’s a young group in terms of leadership roles and experience.”

The Cadets reached double digits in the win column by winning their 10th match in 12 outings.

“We fought back and closed it out,” Linsly coach Ashlee Jividen said. “We tried some different line ups and some different things. We showed some toughness, we focus on staying disciplined and in control of what we can control..”

For the Red Riders, Ella Kaufman had 19 digs, two assists, two aces and four kills, Illiona Kirlangitis tallied eight digs, two aces and three kills, Gabby Sprouse had five kills, two aces, two digs and two solo blocks, Amalia Kirlangitis had 16 assists, 11 digs, a block assist, a kill and an ace and Kaylee Webster had 13 digs and an ace.

For Linsly, Lola Roldan Duenas led the way with six aces and Laura Carbonell tallied a match-high 12 kills.

UP NEXT

Linlsy: Takes on Brooke and Madonna in a tri-match at Brooke on Wednesday.

Weir High: Is at Wheeling Central on Thursday.